Electric cars: Ontario gives up on grants

Just weeks after coming to power, Ontario’s new Premier Doug Ford has confirmed that his government is abandoning the subsidy for hybrid and electric vehicle buyers.

In early July, the Ontario government, now formed by the Conservative Party, canceled the “cap and trade” program which included up to $ 14,000 in financial assistance for electric vehicle purchasers. with hydrogen.

Owners of new vehicles that were registered after July 11 will not be eligible for this grant, the most generous of its kind in Canada.

By cutting funding, the Ontario government is meeting its commitment to reduce the cost of gasoline by 10 cents per liter.

A hard blow to electric vehicles

With this subsidy left to consumers, sales of electric vehicles are likely to fall in Ontario in the coming months. At least that’s what David Adams, President of the Association of Global Automakers of Canada, believes.

“The fact is that without the incentive to make up the difference between the price of a regular gas car and the more expensive electric or hydrogen vehicles, consumers will not buy them the same,” says Adams. in an interview with CTV News .

David Adams recalled that British Columbia has already canceled its subsidy to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles and that sales were quickly affected.

With this sudden withdrawal from Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia remain the only two provinces in Canada to provide financial assistance to purchasers of hybrid, electric and hydrogen vehicles. With us, the grant of up to $ 8000 becomes the most generous in the country.

According to figures compiled by FleetCarma, Ontario was the province where it sold the most hybrid and electric vehicles in Canada last year with a total of 7477 units. Quebec is not far behind with 7194 sales while British Columbia completes the podium with 3270 units sold.